Four Emperor Realm cultivators lunged forward at once, and the sight was truly terrifying.
Shi Tianhe, pinned in place by Yang Kai, felt her body sink suddenly as though a mountain range had crashed down upon her chest, leaving her unable to draw breath.
In the span of her horror, the four attacks arrived right on schedule.
Booom, booom, booom…
A deafening roar rang out. Shi Tianhe's heart nearly leapt out of her chest — she was certain she was dead. But when she focused her eyes again, she found herself inexplicably standing in a different spot, the four attacks having failed to graze even a hair on her body.
Yang Kai stood in front of her. His hands slammed together, then pulled apart.
A massive, pitch-black crescent blade of energy coalesced lazily before him, rippling with power so terrifying it made one's heart race — like the scythe of death itself, biding its time to harvest the lives of all.
With a sharp whistle, the crescent blade shot forward, hurtling straight toward the four Emperor Realm cultivators.
"Watch out!" Yan Dong's expression shifted and he bellowed.
Having missed with his opening strike, he had already realized they'd underestimated Yang Kai's strength. This young man was indeed only at the first level of the Emperor Realm, but that speed was utterly uncanny. With such speed, one was virtually unbeatable in combat.
He turned his head just in time to see the enormous crescent blade screaming toward him. Terror gripped Yan Dong as he retreated frantically, roaring: "Elders, dodge — now!"
He had sharp instincts and dodged cleanly, but the three Mystic Thunder Pavilion Elders were not nearly so nimble. They were still trying to process what had just happened — they hadn't even seen Yang Kai make a move, so how had the man simply vanished?
By the time Yan Dong's warning reached them, the crescent blade was already upon them.
The three Mystic Thunder Pavilion Elders bellowed in unison, each channeling their Emperor Qi and calling upon the power of their Laws to resist.
Hisss, hisss, hisss, hisss…
A sight of utter horror unfolded before their eyes. Everywhere the crescent blade passed, it tore through their Emperor Qi and their Laws like a scythe through dry grass, unstoppable in its advance.
Pfft…
A soft sound. The dark crescent blade sliced clean through the body of the Mystic Thunder Pavilion Elder standing in front, then continued onward without losing an ounce of momentum to strike the second Elder.
The second Elder fared no better, cut through by the blade just the same.
When it reached the third — a middle-aged Elder — he finally managed to twist his body just enough to let the crescent blade shear off through his arm instead.
Yan Dong's eyes went wide in an instant, staring in stark terror at the two Mystic Thunder Pavilion Elders who had been sliced in half. He didn't even dare blink.
Crack. The two Elders split apart, blood and viscera spilling from midair in a gruesome shower. At the same time, a shrill scream pierced the air, snapping Yan Dong's head around.
The third Mystic Thunder Pavilion Elder — the middle-aged one — had lost an arm clean at the shoulder. Blood gushed from the wound like a fountain, and through the cut, the faint outline of a beating heart was visible inside his chest cavity. The injury was severe.
"Hssss…" Yan Dong drew a sharp breath, his robes instantly drenched in cold sweat. He whipped his head around to stare at Yang Kai, his voice trembling with dread: "You… just who are you?"
One move. In a single move, two first-level Emperor Realm Elders of the Mystic Thunder Pavilion had been killed instantly, and a third left gravely wounded.
This was something a first-level Emperor Realm cultivator could pull off? This was still a human being?
Yan Dong was genuinely terrified. If Yang Kai hadn't deliberately revealed his first-level Emperor Realm cultivation moments ago, he would have assumed the young man was a third-level Emperor Realm expert pretending to be weak.
Standing behind Yang Kai, Shi Tianhe was equally stunned, unable to suppress a hard swallow.
By now, she suddenly realized that the force restraining her had vanished — she was free once more.
Yang Kai flashed a grin. "You didn't even know who I was before coming to cause trouble. It seems City Lord Yan has never truly faced death."
"Death…" Yan Dong's eyes narrowed. He glanced at the two dead Mystic Thunder Pavilion Elders, then looked across to where Bai Yu was struggling desperately and looked as though she wouldn't last much longer. With a grit of his teeth, he spun around and transformed into a streak of rainbow light, fleeing at top speed.
He didn't dare stay a moment longer. The man had killed two Emperor Realm cultivators of equal strength to him in the blink of an eye — taking his own life would be just as effortless. If he lingered, his life would surely be forfeit here.
Yet against that supernatural speed, Yan Dong had absolutely no confidence he could escape.
So even as he fled, he cast an anxious glance over his shoulder — only to find Yang Kai still standing in place, showing no intention of giving chase.
How fast was an Emperor Realm cultivator? In the span of a single blink, Yan Dong had vanished from sight.
Only then did Yan Dong finally draw long, ragged breaths, his face pale with lingering fear, a rush of relief flooding through him — the feeling of someone who had narrowly escaped death.
He had no idea why the other hadn't pursued, but since he'd been allowed to flee, he certainly wasn't going to pass up the chance.
After flying for another several dozen breaths, Yan Dong began to regain a sliver of security. No matter how fast that young man was, the fact that there was still no sign of pursuit meant he was safe.
This thought had barely finished forming when Yan Dong suddenly halted mid-stride, his expression turning grave as he stared toward something not far ahead.